1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to devices which hold, support, manipulate and utilize all portions of documents such as blueprints, maps and charts and any other document.
2. Description of Prior Art
Documents such as blueprints, maps and charts and other documents, are often used in confined spaces such as airplane cockpits, automobiles, and other locations, and are at times used in adverse environments, such as in the wind, and where there is no space or place to spread such documents out. This device, of the present invention, provides a means of utilizing documents under this and other conditions. It provides a stable surface on which to work, write, place plotters, use scales, and otherwise utilize documents. It also provides an orderly method of using portions of the document by other than the common practice of folding and unfolding.
Numerous devices have been proposed and implemented to handle and manipulate documents such as maps and charts in confined and adverse environments. As early as 1905 there was the Road Map Exhibitor, U.S. Pat. No. 841,800, invented by Metcalfe, which consisted of a clear tube in which the map was inserted into and held tight to the inside face of the tube. Said tube could be rotated to view the map. This had the disadvantage of handling a limited size document, dependent on the length and circumference of the tube. It was limited to a curved surface which would not allow one to properly use devices such as standard plotters or scales. It had the disadvantage that you could not write or mark directly on the document.
Another device developed to manipulate and utilize documents was the Maps and Charts Holder, U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,626, issued to Bedinghaus. It represented an invention for holding a flexible document such as maps and charts. Again, such a device required that the document be rolled tightly in order to utilize various parts of the document. It required exact alignment of the document in the device in order to be able roll the document and have it function properly. The dimension perpendicular to the rolling direction of the document was limited by the fixed dimension of the device. The document was encased and covered by the device, through which one had to utilize it. One would not have been able to mark directly on the document. In order to view the entire document one would have had to remove the document from the device and the document would have been tightly rolled and difficult to layout and manage. The device of this invention was bulky and complicated. The invention consisted of many moving parts making it not economical to build. It would have been costly to purchase a number of the devices of this invention in order to use it for a number of documents as is often required for blueprints and navigation charts. It would also have required a substantial amount of room to store a number of documents mounted to a number of devices of this invention.
The Map Holder, U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,614, issued to Jerry Shettleroe, was representative of another device of limited capability for manipulating maps. It was limited to documents which were manufactured specifically to suit the dimensions and function of the device. The width of the device provided a very limited width of document to be viewed. The document was required to be rolled and wound tightly and would have been subject to tearing, binding and misalignment. It did not provide a stable surface on which one can write or draw on. The device of this invention also required many moving parts and, again, was only useable with custom sized documents. The device would not have lent itself to an economical method of storing or utilizing a number of documents.